


Half a Heart

by NarryMusings



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Narry - Freeform, Soulmate AU, half a heart, half a heart au, narry storan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 08:10:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2421461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarryMusings/pseuds/NarryMusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's spent the majority of his life searching for his soul mate; the other half of his rose gold heart. When he's 19, he stops - stops hoping and wishing and searching – because maybe his mother is wrong. And then he meets a boy – bright blond hair, beautiful blue eyes, brilliant smile – and it feels like he's known this boy, this stranger, his whole life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Half a Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii. 
> 
> Here's another soul mate au based off that challenge everyone was doing for Half a Heart! It's one of my favourite songs so I simply couldn't resist writing something for it. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Tumblr: narrymusings

"This, Harry, this is yours, okay? And you need to keep it safe."

Harry is just five years old when he asks his mum what the half-shaped, rose gold heart is for. 

"It will help you find the other half of your heart, Luv; your soul mate. Harry, for every half heart, there's another that belongs to one other person – and that person is your soul mate. That person is the person you're meant to spend the rest of your life with. And their heart will fit perfectly against your heart and that's when you'll know, Harry. That's when you'll know you've found the one person who was made just for you and your heart. So you need to keep it safe, Harry, because your other half will keep their heart safe for you too."

X

Harry is 13 when he finds himself in love with Louis. 

Harry meets Louis when he's eight years old. Louis is the popular kid at school, the charismatic, goofy, class clown-like one. He's very loud, very quirky and very confident and everyone loves him – even the teachers, who tend to discipline him behind smiles and eye-rolls. He's all short, brown hair, crystal-like blue eyes and a dazzling, perfect smile and Harry is instantly drawn to him. But so is everyone else, Harry thinks.

Louis approaches Harry at lunch time and by the end of the hour Louis decides that they're going to be best friends. 

And then they are. They're inseparable, quite like a package deal. Harry's quieter and more reserved than Louis is, but they balance each other out and that's what Harry likes about it. That they complete each other. 

When they're 10, Harry starts to wonder if maybe they're soul mates. 

But Louis doesn't have his heart necklace like Harry does; hanging from a chain around Harry's neck and almost always tucked safely underneath his shirts. "My mum wants to wait until I'm 13 to give me mine," Louis tells him when Harry asks why he doesn't have his.

It's a long time to wait – three years – to see if Louis is his soul mate, but Harry is ready and willing. Because Louis makes Harry happy, makes him feel alive and special. Because just the thought of seeing Louis makes Harry's real heart race in his chest and the butterflies come alive in his stomach every times he sees him. Because Louis sometimes holds his hand and because he lets Harry cuddle with him when they're watching movies in Harry's basement. Because they're perfect together and everything just kind of makes sense. 

Besides, it's already been two years – so yeah, Harry can wait three more years.

+

Louis gets his heart necklace on his 13th birthday and Harry is sick with anticipation for the moment when he can fit Louis' half against his own. But there are so many people gathered in Louis' house for the party and Harry is nervous enough as it is so he waits and waits some more. He waits until all their friends are gone and Louis' mum is cleaning up the mess they've left behind and Harry and Louis are playing Louis' new video game while waiting for Harry's mum to pick him up. Twenty minutes in, Harry can't take it anymore so he pauses the game – against Louis' protests – and he grabs Louis' necklace from around his neck and places the jagged edge of Louis' heart against his own. And then his real heart plummets into his stomach and his chest tightens and Louis looks confused but Harry doesn't have the heart to care because it doesn't match – Louis' half doesn't fit Harry's half. But Harry's always been stubborn, so he tries again; pulls the two halves apart and brings them together again – and again and again. And it just won't fit. Louis' heart doesn't match Harry's. 

Louis looks at him like he's mad, laughing as he snatches his necklace back. He teases Harry for thinking they would be soul mates, turns the game back on and says that he's straight anyway – and Harry doesn't care about anything else after that. Louis is straight and Louis is not his soul mate and that's all. That's it. 

Louis doesn't seem to notice the unshed tears shining in Harry's eyes or the way Harry's breathing quickens like he's losing it until Louis' mum comes into the living room with Harry's mum trailing after her. And by the time he does notice the tears and the unlabored breaths and the shaking hands and quivering chin, Harry's pushing him away and yanking his own mum towards the front door because he wants to leave; he has to leave. 

+

Harry cries for three hours that night. His mum holds him and strokes his hair and shushes him the way she used to when he was scared or upset and he buries himself against her chest like his life depends on it, like her body will shield him from his pain. But it doesn't shield him at all, because the pain is all inside him and it just hurts. It hurts so badly and he's positive that his heart – his real heart – is literally breaking.

Breaking because the universe has to be wrong. Breaking because Louis can't not be his soul mate. 

His mum holds him until he's calm enough to go to bed and she lets him lie down in hers because it always seems so much softer and comfier than his own when he's upset. The doorbell rings – even though it's nearly 10 o'clock at night – and his mother leaves to answer it. And then all of a sudden Louis' there and he's apologizing over and over and he's almost in tears too and Harry knows that Louis doesn't mean to not be his soul mate so he lets Louis crawl into the bed and hold him. Louis tells him that maybe they are soul mates, just soul mates of a different kind. "Like friend soul mates, yeah? We can still be friends, right?"

And Harry's never really had a choice in the matter anyway – not that he would ever choose differently – so he nods. 

X

Harry becomes kind of obsessed with the idea of finding his soul mate after the Louis fiasco. Like, actually obsessed. He's always checking people's heart necklaces, trying to make them fit against his own. 

Everyone thinks he's weird and a little mad for it, but they laugh it off as Harry just being Harry. And, for now, Harry's ok with that.

X

Harry is 15 when he meets Caroline. 

She's friends with his sister Gemma, both of whom attend the same university and have most of the same classes. She's older and she's more mature and there's just something about her that draws him in the first time he sees her sitting at the island in his kitchen when he comes home from school. She smiles at him and runs a hand through her dark hair and Harry's real heart skips a beat because she's beautiful. 

His gaze falls to the small heart hanging around her neck on the outside of her shirt when she isn't looking and he can't help but wonder if hers is the one. But then Gemma's pulling Caroline towards her room to do homework and Harry doesn't have the chance to check. 

Caroline becomes a regular around his house, hanging out with Gemma and talking to his mum and ruffling his hair when she walks by him in the living room. And Harry's hardly had the chance to really talk to her, but she's nice and she's goofy and he can already feel himself falling for her. He can feel the way his palms sweat around her, the way the butterflies come alive in his stomach when he sees her, the way his real heart beats faster when she laughs. He can feel it.

+

Gemma's supposed to pick him up from school one day but something comes up so Caroline picks him up instead. His friends whistle and nudge him and tease him and he fights the blush crawling up his neck as he climbs into the passenger seat. The whole car ride is spent blasting The Beatles and singing along and Harry thinks he might finally have the chance to check her heart.

She pulls into his driveway to let him out and he hesitates, his hand lingering on the door handle – and then he goes for it; he asks if he can see her necklace. She seems to know exactly what he wants it for and so she pulls the chain off over her head and holds it out for him.

Harry holds his breath and his fingers tremble as he tries to fit the halves together and somehow he knows before the pieces even touch. 

And, as it turns out, Caroline isn't his soul mate because she's already someone else's. 

X

The thing is: Harry falls prematurely. He falls and so he hopes and he dreams and he believes. And that's what makes the let down so hard. 

X

Harry is 16 when he meets Nick.

He's kind of the badass new kid who doesn't care what anyone thinks and everyone at school is kind of intimidated by his leather jacket, black skinny jeans and tattoos.

Harry isn't sure what to make of him at first because Nick's quiet, but he's bold and he keeps to himself – he's also quite cocky. Nick's very intriguing. 

He bumps into Nick – quite literally – as he's leaving school one day. The contact sends his books tumbling to the ground. Apologies start spilling out of his lips as he bends down to pick them up and then all of a sudden Nick's there and he's helping. Five minutes later they're walking home together because, as it turns out, Nick lives just down the block from Harry. And by the time Harry settles into bed that night, he decides that he might like Nick. 

They walk home together the next day. And then the next day. And then suddenly they've got a routine and a friendship and they're hanging out on weekends and Louis' telling him to be careful and Harry doesn't know if it's because Louis doesn't like Nick or if he's just worried for Harry. But it doesn't really matter, because Harry likes Nick. Like, really likes him. 

Harry gets his first tattoo with Nick. And he smokes his first joint with Nick – and Louis and Zayn. And yeah, he's kind of high and a little bit drunk, but Nick is his first real kiss and of course it's perfect and Harry just really, really wants Nick to be his soul mate. 

But Harry checks the necklace around Nick's neck one night after he's fallen asleep on top of Harry's bed a little over a week later and Harry's real heart breaks a little bit more because Nick's heart doesn't match Harry's. 

They don't stop being friends, necessarily, but Harry stops letting Nick kiss him and Nick doesn't ask him why. Harry thinks Nick might already know why.

X

Harry is 17 when he meets Taylor. 

His parents take him and Gemma to Los Angeles for a family vacation that summer. They rent out a small beach house in the less-expensive area of the city for a whole month and on their sixth morning there, while he's jogging along the shoreline, he runs – almost literally – right into her. He apologizes and pulls her to her feet and she brushes the sand off her long, lean legs and bum and laughs it off. They finish the jog together and, as it turns out, not only does Taylor love his accent, but she lives three doors down from where he's staying.

He happens across her the following day too. And then the ay after that – and that's when they decide to make it a thing, this jogging together. And Harry rather likes the company.

Taylor is cute and she's funny and she's an all-around great person to be around and Harry becomes fond of her in no time. She has dreams of being a singer, has even written a few of her own songs, and one night, after going to see a movie, she sings for him in the car on their way back home and Harry thinks she has a beautiful voice. 

They start to hang out every day and Harry knows it's a bad idea because she lives here and Harry lives in the UK and he's seen the necklace she keeps around her neck and it doesn't look like it matches Harry's at all. (He knows this because he's spent years obsessing over the shape of his own and he just knows that hers won't fit.) But he's lonely and she's nice and she looks at him with this sort of infatuated gaze and it makes his real heart race inside his chest. 

She's lonely too, he realizes soon after, because she tells him. She also tells him that she likes to believe in soul mates too but she has a track record – but so does Harry, kind of – and she knows that Harry isn't her soul mate and she's afraid that she'll never find hers which is why she has a “track record” to begin with. 

"It's like...it's like a part of me thinks that if I force it, the pieces will just have to fit eventually, but they don't. They won't – and I know that, but I just wish they would. It's like trying to fit a square into a circle, isn't it?"

Harry doesn't think he's ever heard anything truer or utterly heartbreaking – and so he kisses her. Because he doesn't want her to cry. Because he doesn't want to cry.

And, like he suspected from the very beginning, Taylor's piece doesn't fit the way it should with his and Harry just becomes another broken heart.

X

Harry is 19 when he stops believing in soul mates.

He stops – stops hoping and wishing and searching – because maybe his mother is wrong.

Maybe the universe is wrong. Maybe he doesn't have a soul mate; maybe he's meant to live his whole life alone.

Maybe distancing himself from the idea of finding his soul mate will, at the very least, keep him from getting his real heart broken. 

And maybe it's unrealistic and selfish and childish to think like that, but what else is he supposed to think? He's been hoping and wishing and searching for years and out of everyone he knows it seems that he's the only one who hasn't found his soul mate.

Gemma has her boyfriend. Caroline has her boyfriend. Louis has Eleanor. Zayn has Perrie. 

(How do they do it? How do some people just manage to kind of stumble upon their soul mates like it's the easiest thing in the world? How is it fair that some people get to just find their person on the first try while others, like Harry, are forced to get their hears broken over and over and over again?)

Okay, so maybe he isn't the only one, but he's the only one who matters because he's the only one who cares. Nick's happy living the single life, being able to do and see whoever he feels like and he doesn't even talk to Taylor anymore.

X

Nick gives him an idea one night, when the lads – and their girlfriends – are all gathered at Harry's parents' cottage, two hours from home. (It’s the middle of August and there's only a couple of weeks left until he starts University in London and until everyone else goes back; Harry had taken a year off to work so that his parents weren't stuck paying for his entire tuition.)

Nick tells him that University is different from high school because where the kids in high school are mostly obsessed with the idea of their soul mate – “not unlike you, Haz” – the post-secondary kids don't usually give a fuck. Everyone just kind of dates – fucks – everyone just for the hell of it and if they stumble upon their soul mate in the process, then that's just the added bonus, isn't it? He says that this is Harry's chance. His chance to forget about the rose gold heart dangling from his neck and just have fun, to go to parties and kiss strangers and make friends and maybe be fuck buddies with someone – “because, hell, I think you need it, mate” - and not worry all the time about finding his soul mate. 

(Louis hates the idea, which isn't all that surprising because he has a habit of hating almost every idea that pops into Nick's head.)

The idea confuses Harry, but it also intrigues him.

X

Harry meets Josh and then Cara and then Kendall in his first semester and they're all flings and none of them are his soul mates and for once, for the first time in his entire life, Harry doesn't care. 

He doesn't care because they're casual, easy relationships and both parties know that they won't last and they're okay with that.

X

And then Harry meets Niall.

It's the second day of the second semester and Harry's bored out of his mind, where he's working in the tiny campus cafe as a cashier/barista/sandwich maker. It's late in the evening, which is when the flow of tired uni kids is at its lowest, because they're probably all off studying or sleeping. (Morning shifts are his favourite shifts because, yeah, he's busy but it makes the day go faster. It's just that he only has one weekly morning shift due to the fact that his classes start at 8 a.m. every other day of the week.)

He's tired and he's grumpy because he didn't sleep well last night – Louis had decided to throw a last minute Welcome Home party for everyone in their dorm, despite the fact that everyone had only been gone for three weeks – and he's literally counting down the minutes until he can lock the door and finish his cleanup. It's 9:56 and Harry has the key in his hand and is about to walk around the empty counter, because most nights he can get away with locking up a few minutes early, but then the door swings open, bringing with it the cold, January air and snowflakes and a boy with blond hair poking out of a grey beanie, red cheeks and blue eyes. 

Harry freezes and looks at the boy, who rubs his hands together. 

"Hey, mate – I know you're closing, but my class ran late because some idiot didn't know when to stop arguing with the professor and it's fucking freezing out there and I would just really, really like a hot chocolate."

The boy's voice is deep and distinctly Irish and Harry doesn't think he's ever heard a voice more captivating – or seen a face more beautiful, he decides. He blinks, taken aback for a moment before stepping back behind the counter. "Um, yeah, of course," he mutters. "Large?"

"Yeah, thanks mate. How much is it?"

Harry shakes his head as he presses the button to dispense the hot chocolate into a large-sized paper cup. "Don't worry about it."

"Wh-what? Are you sure?" The boy looks stunned and a little bit mortified. 

And Harry has to bite back a laugh. "Yeah, it's fine. It's on the house."

"Because I can-"

"Seriously, I don't feel like punching it in and having more paperwork, it's fine," Harry insists, handing him the cup.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I owe you one then."

"Don't worry about it. Have a good night."

The boy nods and smiles – and his lips are perfect and his teeth are perfect and his smile is radiant. "Cheers, mate."

And then the boy is gone and Harry's feet are glued to floor as he stares at the spot where the boy just was. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, as though to erase the thoughts floating around in his head – that the boy is beautiful and has a beautiful voice and what about his heart necklace? – as he walks back around the counter to lock the door. 

X

Harry hears the boy before he sees him a few days later and even though he's met the lad once he'd know that voice anywhere. 

He's only just started his shift, tying up his apron behind his back when he hears his name being called and his stomach does this thing where it jumps into his throat. And, sure enough, when he turns around, the boy is standing there – grey beanie, black jacket and red cheeks. The boy smiles at him and waves as he makes his way towards the counter and Harry can't help the fact that he stands a little bit straighter. And it doesn't even matter to him how the boy knows his name, because he's had enough experience to know that people really do pay attention to name tags sometimes; he just thinks it's a little unfair that he doesn't know this stranger's name in return.

"Hey, mate," the boy greets him.

"Hey. Hot chocolate?"

"Nah, man, I think..." he trails off, looking up at the menu board above Harry's head. He rests his right hand on the counter and uses the other to push his beanie back on his head, just enough that Harry can see brown roots. "What do you drink, what's your favourite?" The boy asks, looking back at Harry.

Harry shrugs. "I really like the pumpkin spice latte this time of year. It's pretty good."

"I'll have that, then. Large." The boy slides a couple dollars across the counter and Harry punches it in quickly before turning away to make the drink.

"How long you been workin' 'ere?"

Harry glances sideways to see the boy leaning with his elbows on the counter, watching him intently. "Um, since, like, the last week of September."

"Ahh. First year or..?"

"First, yeah, but I took a year off."

"Yeah, me too. But I only just started in January."

"Explains why I haven't seen you around before," Harry replies. 

The boy smirks. "Yeah, guess it does."

Harry places the pumpkin spice latte on the counter between them as the boy pushes himself back.

"Well, I gotta get to class. See ya 'round, Harry."

"Wait, uh, you forgot your drink!" Harry calls after him. 

The boy turns but continues to walk backwards towards the door. "It's yours, on me." And then he smiles and he winks and he's out the door before Harry can register what's just happened.

And Harry still doesn't know his name. 

X

Harry learns the boy's name two days later when Niall stops by to buy himself – and Harry, against his protests – a drink before going to class. Niall. Niall Horan. Niall.

And he spends the rest of his shift repeating Niall's name over and over and over in his head.

X

Three days after that, Harry learns that Niall is taking music and sound engineering and that Niall plays the guitar and sings in his spare time – and Harry doesn't admit to it out loud, but he'd really like to hear Niall sing some time.

X

Louis knows something's up with him, that there's somebody new in Harry's life, and try as Harry might to deny it because he doesn't want to make a big deal of it – yet – Louis refuses to believe him.

"I know you, Harry, and I know when there's a new somebody in your life. So spill," Louis demands one Sunday afternoon in February. Eleanor is draped across his lap and even she seems interested in what Harry has to say.

Harry wants to tell them that it's not just somebody because it's Niall, but he doesn't. And Louis swears that he'll find out even if it scars him.

X

Louis drags him to a party across campus the following Saturday. Or, rather, Louis goes to a party and then calls Harry and forces him to get out of his pajamas to join him and Eleanor, threatening to physically drag him there if he has to. And even though Harry would really just rather stay in and daydream about Niall's dyed-blond hair and ocean-like blue eyes and soft, kissable looking lips, he pulls on his favourite pair of black skinny jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt and hides his messy curls under a beanie. Because maybe it’s better if he gets out and about, maybe it's better to stop thinking about Niall before it's too late.

The party is already in full-swing and everyone is already drunk by the time Harry gets there, including Louis who throws himself against Harry and claims that he's found someone he wants Harry to meet. And Harry wants to protest, because he's already been obsessing over a pretty, blond Irish boy and he doesn't want to meet anybody else right now, but then Eleanor is there and she's pulling Louis who's pulling Harry through throngs of drunk uni kids – and even if he actually tried to protest, Louis wouldn't be able to hear him over the music anyway.

Eleanor pulls them into the living room, where several people are gathered on the couch and there's a boy sitting the coffee table with a guitar in his lap and a backwards SnapBack on his head. "Niall!"

Harry freezes and everything just kind of slows to a stop – in Harry's mind it does, anyway. His breath catches in his throat and his heart skips a beat in his chest and the butterflies in his stomach come alive. He thinks he's going to be sick or maybe he's going to pass out. 

And then there's Niall, pushing himself to his feet as he holds his guitar down by his side and he turns around to face the three of them. His eyes – beautiful and blue and mesmerizing - widen and then dance in recognition and he grins that wide, radiant smile that makes Harry weak in the knees. 

"Niall, mate, this is my friend I was talking about-" Louis starts, but then Niall cuts him off. 

"Harry, hey."

Harry swallows the lump in his throat. "Hey, Niall."

"Wait, you guys know each other?" Eleanor wonders, looking curiously between the two of them.

Harry just kind of stares at Niall and he's more than grateful when Niall responds; "Yeah, I mean, Harry works at the little coffee shop I go to sometimes. He gave me a free hot chocolate the first time I went there, 's how we met."

Louis blinks, placing a hand on both Niall's and Harry's shoulders. "Well, lads, that means it's less work that I have to do."

"NIALL!" A voice bellows from behind them. 

Harry cranes his neck to see a tall, strapping fellow with short brown hair and a puppy dog face walking towards them, a girl with long, curly hair trailing and giggling after him. 

"Payno!"

"Mate – sing for us, mate," the lad named 'Payno' tells him, clapping Niall on the shoulder. "Play us something."

Harry looks back at Niall, who glances at him briefly with a kind of knowing smirk on his lips and Harry smirks back because this is chance to finally hear Niall sing.

"Yeah, listen to Liam, Horan. Play something," Louis encourages him. 

"'Right, okay. Someone gimme a song."

And then suddenly a crowd has formed around them and everyone's yelling out song names and Harry gets the feeling things like this have happened before because Niall's laughing and swinging his guitar strap over his shoulder and everyone is waiting. Harry hold his breath, shoving his hands into his pockets as he watches Niall and the way his fingers glide across the neck of the guitar and Harry's already mesmerized. 

And then Niall starts to sing and it's like the heavens have opened up and everyone – everyone – is watching him and listening to him. He sounds like an angel. His voice is soft and a little raspy and it sounds so good with the melody of the guitar. And Harry's awestruck because he wasn't expecting Niall to be this brilliant; because Niall's kind of a big freaking deal.

Niall sings three more songs before putting the guitar aside to mingle and have a few more drinks. And Harry can't help but watch him whenever he isn't looking. The boy is a people person and everyone loves him and Harry wonders if maybe this is why he's so drawn in. He spends the rest of the night and early morning with Niall – talking and joking and laughing. And by the end of the party, Niall is no longer just a boy who comes into the shop or the object of his thoughts or the mystery he's kept from Louis. 

By the end of the party, Niall is Niall and it's like Harry's known him his entire life – at least that's how it feels because even though the boy makes his stomach churn and his heart skip several beats, it's easy just being with Niall.

X

Niall laughs too loudly, talks to much and moves around too easily. This much is evident as time drags on and Harry gets to spend more time with him – out of the coffee shop, at that. 

And, yeah, Harry is officially smitten and, more than anything in the world, he just wants to know what Niall's little heart necklace looks like.

X

Harry goes to Ireland with Niall for reading week. Niall invites him because he says his mum wants to meet the new friend he's made and Harry doesn't have to be asked twice. He's always wanted to visit Ireland – especially since meeting Niall – and, at this point, he'd go anywhere with Niall if Niall wanted him to. 

And it's Ireland that changes things. Or, perhaps not Ireland itself, but it's definitely being in Ireland that changes things. 

Things like:

Niall sitting closer to Harry on the couch than usual; tossing his legs over Harry's.

Harry standing so close to Niall that he can feel the Irishman's body heat – and maybe hear his heartbeat, a bit.

Touching each other – like, punching each other in the arm or pushing each other playfully or stroking the other's face jokingly – without a cause or reason; just because they can. Because they want to. 

And sometimes Harry catches Niall staring at him from across the dinner table. And sometimes Niall's fingers brush Harry's "accidentally" when they're watching TV. And when Niall introduces Harry to his best friend Sean, the blond boy pauses and hesitates before calling Harry his friend; it's like he wanted to say something more.

These changes are small and gradual, but Harry can feel them – can feel something changing between them and he just knows that Niall can feel it too. And then it's the night before they're to go back to London when everything changes. 

They're in Niall's room, having just said goodnight to his parents, and Harry's lying on his back next to Niall, whose lying on his side facing away from him. Harry's staring up at the ceiling because he can't sleep, because he's worried about what's going to happen when they get back to London. Will things change again? Will things go back to the way they were? Will he ever get the courage to ask Niall if he can compare their half-hearts?

"Harry?"

Harry's breath hitches in his throat and he curses himself for it because chances are Niall's heard it. He pauses for a moment before answering, "yeah?"

"I can't sleep."

"Me either."

And then there's the sound of rustling sheets interrupting the silence and Harry can feel the mattress moving as Niall turns around to face him. So Harry does the same, turning onto his side to mirror Niall's position. He pulls his knees up a little and they rest against Niall's as he tucks his arms into his chest and under his pillow. They stare at each other for a moment in silence and, even in the darkness of the room, Harry can see how blue Niall's eyes are. 

"Do you believe in the soul mate thing?" Niall asks, breaking the silence. 

Harry blinks. "I thought everyone did."

Niall shrugs. "I just...I know some people who don't – or at least they don't care. But they're all with somebody anyway and they're still really happy."

"Oh."

"I want you to be my soul mate, Harry," Niall whispers.

And Harry reaches for his necklace so fast, pushing himself onto his elbow to take it off when Niall stops him. Harry's brow furrows in confusion – because how else are they supposed to know?

"Just... Harry, I've always been obsessed with the idea of finding my soul mate; I drove myself crazy with it. And it led to a lot of broken hearts so I decided to stop looking. I mean, you know that saying that sometimes you have to stop looking for something in order to find it?"

Harry nods, lying back down as he continues to finger the half-heart on his chain.

"And then I found you, Harry."

A breath catches in Harry's throat as he continues to watch Niall talk. 

Niall continues, his gaze wide and far away like he's in another world. "I couldn't stop thinking about you. And you made me smile and laugh and I would always get butterflies in my stomach and my palms would get sweaty and – and this is different. This feels different from anything I've ever felt with anyone. It's like...it's like I've known you my whole life, Harry. You know?"

"I know," Harry whispers. His voice is raspy and weak. "I know."

"I just want you to be my soul mate, Haz."

"Then, here," Harry murmurs desperately, moving to take off his necklace again. And, again, Niall stops him much to Harry's dismay. Why won't he check?

"I want you to be my soul mate," the blond says for the third time – and Harry's about to scream at him for it because why won't he just check his damn necklace? "But it won't matter to me if you aren't because either way I'm in love with you, yeah. And I just – I guess I just need to know where you stand before we compare necklaces."

And Harry doesn't know how to say what he's thinking because his head is a mess and his real heart is beating so hard in his chest that it almost hurts. Niall's voice, his words – I'm in love with you – are reverberating around in his head and it means everything to him but he doesn't know how to say that. He doesn't know how to explain it; how to tell Niall that he feels the same way even though it should be incredibly easy now. He doesn't know how to put into words all the thoughts running through his head – that he doesn't care if Niall isn't his actual soul mate because as far as he's concerned Niall feels like it, or that Harry would do anything to make their hearts fit together like puzzle pieces if they don't already. He doesn't know how to put into words the feelings taking over his real heart.

And Niall's looking at him and his eyes are desperate and his bottom lip is quivering like he's going to cry – which should be illegal – so Harry does the only thing he can think of and kisses him. 

Niall's lips are smooth and warm and feel so perfect and so incredibly good against his own. Their lips mold together in a soft, gentle friction and Harry's 100 per cent sure that nothing has ever felt this right before; that no other first kiss has ever felt this perfect. Harry rolls over, crawling on top of Niall as he tugs the blond boy's bottom lip between his teeth which elicits a soft, barely audible moan from Niall, whose arms come up under Harry's arms and curl over his shoulders, forcing their bodies flush together. 

Harry only pulls away to breath – because he has to, not because he wants to, pressing his forehead against Niall's. 

"Our necklaces," Niall whispers, bringing his hand around to finger Harry's rose gold heart.

Harry shakes his head, pressing a chaste kiss to Niall's lips. "Let’s just...forget about them for one more night," he whispers back. "Let’s just have this night together first."

And Niall can't do anything but nod, pulling their lips back together as a very Niall-like giggle escapes his throat.

+

They compare necklaces the following morning, sitting cross-legged on Niall's bed like children trading Pokémon cards. Harry's never been more terrified in his life and Niall has to take his hands and help him remove the chain from around his neck because they're shaking so much. And then he waits with bated breath as Niall brings them together slowly because as much as he's come to terms with the fact that it doesn't matter if Niall's his soul mate - because he'll want Niall whether he is or not – he still wants Niall as his real, actual soul mate.

And then the pieces come together and all the air leaves Harry's lungs in one breath as Niall leaps across the space between them, throwing himself at Harry and knocking them both over in a mess of flailing limbs and blissful giggles and chaste kisses.

Niall's heart matches his own and it's a perfect fit. 

But it's not just that.

+

It's that Niall makes him feel whole; like Niall's soul fills the cracks in Harry's heart and the holes in Harry's soul. Niall is everything that is right in the world. He's sunshine and he's rainbows and he's warmth and comfort on a gloomy, drafty day. He's butterflies kisses – and blow jobs – in the mornings and he's walks in the park when they have time in the afternoons and he's good company when Harry's bored at work – where they steal kisses between customers – and he's blanket forts in the evenings on their days off. 

Harry's mother adores Niall and dotes on him more than she dotes on her own son. Gemma thinks Niall is adorable and charming. Louis is ecstatic when he finds out. And Nick couldn't be happier for him. 

And Niall's just...Niall. And, yeah, he laughs too loud and he talks too much and he's more impulsive that Harry can ever be, but he's perfect. He's perfect in all the ways that matter for Harry and that's all that matters.

+

And it turns out that his mother wasn't lying when she said that one day he would find his soul mate – the other half of his heart – and that it would be perfect. 

It's like Niall was made just for him.


End file.
